While many of America's most active wrestling fans will be watching the Big Ten Network or scouring the internet for video and stories about college post-season competition this weekend, another major wrestling event will be going on over in Moscow, Russia on Saturday and Sunday.

The Freestyle World Cup will feature the top eight nations from the 2009 World Championships, battling in dual-meet action. This event will feature numerous superstars in international wrestling, with national pride on the line.

Many people have discovered the excitement of dual meet competition, and the Freestyle World Cup is perhaps the most exciting of all dual meet tournaments. For many years, U.S. wrestling fans were able to witness this great event when it was hosted here in the United States in cities such as Toledo, Ohio, Chattanooga, Tenn., Baltimore, Md., Stillwater, Okla., Fairfax, Va. and Spokane, Wash. Since it has been awarded to other nations during recent years, our fans have not had the opportunity to enjoy this treat in person.

A look at the tentative team rosters for this year features numerous World medalists and continental stars on every team. Russia is loaded for bear, with World Champions Besik Kudukhov, Dennis Tsargush, Georgy Ketoev and Bilal Makhov on their preliminary list.

Every team features some star power. Azerbaijan brings Zalimkhan Guseinov (60 kg), Chamsulvara Chamsulvaraev (74 kg), Hetag Gazyumov (96 kg) and Ali Isayev (120 kg). Iran has stars such as Mehdi Taghavi (66 kg), Reza Yazdani (96 kg) and Fardin Masoumi (120 kg). Top wrestlers from Turkey include Tefik Odabasi (60 kg), Sirhat Baljit (96 kg) and Fatih Cakiroglu (120 kg). Ukraine's best athletes include Vasily Fedoryshin (60 kg), Andriy Stadnik (66 kg) and Taras Danko (85 kg). Belarus will be led by Rizvan Gadjiev (55 kg), Albert Batyrov (66 kg) and Murad Gaidarov (74 kg). Uzbekistan will feature Dilshod Mansurov (60 kg), Soslan Tigiev (95 kg) and Kurban Kurbanov (96 kg).

Just spend a little time on the FILA database and search these athletes, and you will be amazed at their achievements on the international level.

The USA will bring its two 2009 World medalists, Jake Herbert (84 kg) and Tervel Dlagnev (120 kg). Most of the team members are competing in their first World Cup. Based upon team placement at the World meet in Denmark, Team USA enters as the No. 7 seed.

What will be a good performance for Team USA? National Freestyle Coach Zeke Jones is upbeat about the young U.S. talents who will be wrestling in Moscow this weekend, based upon improvement which he has seen in recent international competitions. There is no doubt that the Americans are considered an underdog this year with such a loaded field.

"We will put our foot on the line, get after it, and pour our heart out on the mat," said Jones right before getting on a plane to head off to Russia.

Jones said that the World Cup has been an event that Freestyle Team USA has been focusing on all year. Although many of the international opponents may be taking the U.S. team a bit lightly, this is a group which could alter some perspectives with a strong effort.

How will we be able to follow our American team in Moscow this weekend? FILA often posts a website from major international meets, but has not yet indicated if there will be anything available. The Russian wrestling website will have updates (http://www.wrestrus.ru). You can get an English translation if you access this page through Google. Our coaches will attempt to get information back to us each day, which is not always as easy as you might expect from that part of the world. Watch TheMat.com for updates.

So, while you are focusing on NCAA Div. I qualifiers and Div. III All-Americans this weekend, remember that your American freestyle wrestlers are representing all of us in Russia this weekend. Don't be surprised if we have a few surprises for our opponents in spite of the international rankings.